Providence, RI — The Governor has repeatedly asked for ideas that could more efficiently fund and deliver her ambitious bridge and road upgrade project. Representative Jared Nunes (D, Coventry) has responded by submitting public-private-partnership legislation in the House (H7340) that would lead to less risk and require less debt than if the project is conducted by the troubled RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT).

As documented last fall in a policy paper by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, similar “P3” models have been successfully deployed in many other states.

“In sponsoring P3 legislation, Representative Nunes will give lawmakers the chance to consider a delivery model that may be able to complete the infrastructure upgrades in a safer, timelier, and less costly manner than the RIDOT can deliver,” commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “Most importantly, a P3 would allow us to avoid ‘big dig’ level cost overruns.”

Under a P3 delivery model, as opposed to $500+ million being turned over to a dysfunctional RIDOT, a private sector partner who wins an open bidding process, would self-finance and deliver all specified construction upgrades and maintenance services in exchange for a guaranteed revenue flow from the state over a defined period of time.

The P3 model espoused by the Center, and included in Nunes’ legislation, should be distinguished from preferential-tax and corporate welfare programs also often referred to as public-private-partnerships, as is explained by Stenhouse in the video on this page from a State of the State interview.

The full report and other related information can be found on the Center’s P3 homepage at RIFreedom.org/P3.

About the CenterThe nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise research and advocacy organization. The mission of the 501-C-3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms

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